The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League report that the new two-ham crew of Expedition 8 Commander and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Foale, KB5UAC, and Russian Cosmonaut and ISS Flight Engineer Alexander "Sasha" Kaleri, U8MIR, officially took over the reins of the
International Space Station this week. A formal change-of-command ceremony
took place Friday, October 24

The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League report that during a Symposium, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, outlined the delivery of the
so-called Phase 2 ham equipment to the ISS. A Progress rocket already has
delivered a Kenwood TM-D700E VHF/UHF transceiver to the ISS. The unit will
mean a significant boost to the power output of the ARISS initial station
gear--from 5 W to 25 W.